Teeing Up Good Times: CMO Drives Brand Engagement with Both Types of Golfers

Jed Lewis maintains a balancing act as CMO of Five Iron Golf.

Sure, he plays the traditional role of leading the brand's marketing strategy, brand positioning, and campaigns to drive growth and connect with key audiences. But, he says, there are two distinct customer bases the brand must cater to.

"At Five Iron Golf, we strive to appeal to both avid golfers who live and breathe the game and social, casual players seeking a fun, welcoming environment," he says. "Walking this tightrope requires a deep understanding of the entire spectrum of customer relationships with golf and creating a brand experience where everyone feels at home."

More than 45 million Americans age 6 and up played golf in 2023, according to the National Golf Foundation. That breaks down to 26.6 million people who played on golf courses and another 18.4 million who participated in off-course golf activities at driving ranges, indoor golf simulators, and golf entertainment venues. The team at Five Iron Golf wants a piece of both markets.

At its core, Five Iron Golf integrates technology, social engagement, fun, and a spirit of competition, bringing a fresh take to the indoor golf experience. Its centers offer customers year-round accessibility in the middle of urban locations. There's something for everyone and every level, including golf lessons, corporate events, social gatherings, and casual play.

The brand is experiencing growth across North America, Asia, the Middle East, and Australia. There are now 34 locations in 15 states and five countries. Earlier this year, Five Iron Golf announced its largest franchise development deal to date: 12 locations are set to open in Florida. Those are impressive numbers for a brand that got its start in 2017 and only began franchising in 2023.

Lewis circles back to the marketing challenges of reaching different types of golfers. "On a tighter budget, it's a balancing act of investment across the consumer journey, but it is critical to make sure we are always bringing new people into the brand," he says.

Describe your role as CMO. It's about developing a deep, nuanced understanding of our diverse consumer base and truly getting to know what they want and expect from the brand and how Five Iron Golf fits seamlessly into their lives. This goes beyond identifying preferences; it involves uncovering the motivations and behaviors that drive engagement with our brand.

What's the most challenging part of being a CMO today? The most challenging aspect is navigating the balance between catering to diverse audiences and maintaining a cohesive brand identity.

Our mission is to ensure that Five Iron Golf is a space where no matter your familiarity or skill level with the game, you find something that resonates with you. For the seasoned golfer, we offer cutting-edge technology and an environment to hone their skills. For the casual player, we provide an accessible, fun atmosphere where the focus is on enjoying the experience rather than perfecting the swing.

What makes this possible is Five Iron's ability to break down barriers traditionally associated with golf. There's no need to travel long distances to a course or limit play to fair-weather months. Our locations offer year-round accessibility in the heart of urban centers.

What are the three most important keys to being an effective CMO leader today?

1. Be consumer obsessed. We do everything we can to stay close to the needs and behaviors of our core consumers.
2. Crawl, walk, run. At Five Iron, we pride ourselves on our agility and ability to stand up ideas quickly, run time-bound or geographic tests, and scale if we see success.
3. Be mindful and invest in the entire customer journey. I am wary of overinvesting in lower-funnel digital marketing tactics that are attractive because they are measurable while ignoring the importance of awareness and brand building at the top of the funnel.

How do you prepare a marketing plan and execute the strategies? Extensive research across all major markets forms the foundation of our strategy. This includes analyzing key insights and identifying core personas to uncover how each persona interacts with the brand and what they want from their experience with Five Iron.

Once we have a clear picture of our audience, we examine the full marketing funnel from awareness to consideration to conversion. This holistic view helps us determine where we can have the most significant impact at each stage of the consumer journey.

The insights gathered from research guide our strategic decisions, enabling us to craft targeted campaigns that resonate with diverse audiences. These strategies are then executed with precision, ensuring that every touchpoint, digital and physical, aligns with our goal of delivering a compelling and consistent brand experience.

How do you measure marketing results and effectiveness? At Five Iron Golf, we rely on a comprehensive set of KPIs to evaluate the effectiveness of our marketing efforts. As we evolve into a data-centric organization, two key metrics stand out for me: website traffic and new user traffic. These indicators provide valuable insights into whether our campaigns successfully drive awareness and attract fresh audiences to the brand.

In addition to these, we monitor standard marketing KPIs, such as return on advertising spend, click-through rates, and other engagement metrics. However, I place particular emphasis on new user website traffic because it is a clear indicator of our ability to reach untapped audiences and expand our customer base.

Discuss your core consumer marketing strategies and objectives. Our consumer marketing strategies are grounded in extensive research that has allowed us to identify distinct customer personas and their motivations for engaging with Five Iron Golf. These personas help us understand the various reasons people are drawn to the brand, whether for golf lessons, corporate events, social gatherings, or casual play. Using this insight, we develop individualized tactics tailored to the specific needs of each persona and overarching strategies that tap into broader trends.

How do you go about creating a customer-centric marketing and brand philosophy? It starts with the foundational work of truly listening to and understanding our consumers. This means conducting in-depth research, analyzing data, and challenging assumptions. One of the most common pitfalls for marketers is allowing personal biases or anecdotal observations to influence decision-making. At Five Iron Golf, we focus on insights that apply across our diverse markets. Listening to our customers helps us refine our strategies and ensure that every marketing initiative reflects their needs, desires, and expectations.

Describe your marketing team and the role each of them plays. The marketing team at Five Iron Golf is a collaborative group of specialists, each bringing their expertise to the table:

• The VP of marketing oversees all major initiatives and ensures alignment with the company's broader goals.
• The head of social media and content manages our social media presence and creates engaging content that amplifies the brand's voice.
• The integrated marketing managers focus on website marketing and SEO strategies while ensuring a seamless user experience across digital platforms.
• The in-house graphic designer develops creative assets that visually represent the brand and resonate with our target audience.
• The digital marketing director leads the digital marketing strategy, optimizing campaigns and managing the advertising budget to maximize ROI.

Together, this team drives Five Iron Golf's marketing efforts with creativity and precision.

Why is it so important for the marketing department to have a personal touch when it comes to helping the brand connect with franchise prospects? At Five Iron Golf, we recognize that each franchisee has unique goals, challenges, and local market dynamics. By taking the time to understand their needs, we gain valuable insights that help us refine our strategies. This collaboration builds rapport and ensures that our approach aligns with the realities of their business environment. This personal, tailored approach strengthens our partnerships and ensures that each franchisee feels supported, equipped, and confident to succeed.

How does this help your franchise sales and development effort? By fostering personal connections and offering tailored marketing support, we create a collaborative environment that empowers franchisees to thrive. This approach allows us to understand the unique needs of each location, enabling us to focus PR and media buying where it will have the greatest effect. By gaining insight into local markets, we can craft marketing strategies that drive both awareness and conversions, balancing the serious golf performance side with the social and entertainment appeal of Five Iron Golf.

What ways/tools do you rely on to do this? We rely on a blend of technology, direct engagement, and shared resources to support our franchise partners. Regular communication and internal playbooks form the foundation of our organic approach, helping us launch new locations, build awareness, and establish a loyal customer base.

We also provide access to enterprise systems for scheduling, email marketing, and CRM, ensuring franchisees can manage operations efficiently. Tools, including a print platform and editable templates in Canva, empower our partners to easily create localized marketing materials.

Do today's prospects expect more from the franchise marketing department? What, and how do you provide it? Franchisees now look for support that goes beyond broad, global initiatives. At Five Iron Golf, we pride ourselves on working closely with each of our franchisees to address their specific needs while aligning with overarching brand objectives. This tailored support ensures that franchisees feel heard and equipped to succeed in their local markets while benefiting from broad strategies that drive our brand's growth. Whether it's marketing materials, local campaigns, or operational support, we focus on providing actionable, individualized solutions that empower our franchisees.

How is today's consumer and marketing data helping you fine-tune your marketing initiatives? Consumer and marketing data play crucial roles in refining our strategies at Five Iron Golf. We are heavily data centric and make it a point to analyze data daily. This allows us to optimize our digital campaigns and out-of-home advertising efforts by making informed decisions about where and how to place our brand's touchpoints for maximum effect.

To support this, we have dedicated resources focused on data analysis, ensuring that our marketing decisions are not based on intuition but on real-time insights. By continuously evaluating data, we can adjust our tactics and investments to serve our target audiences and enhance the overall customer experience.

Describe the evolving role of social media in your brand's marketing efforts. Social media has become an integral part of our brand's marketing strategy. At Five Iron Golf, we have a dedicated social media lead who manages our organic social media presence. We post daily to entertain and engage our customers. Our main focus is to inform, entertain, and build a sense of community among our followers.

We understand the importance of staying connected with our audience on a regular basis, so we strive to have meaningful content to share at all times. Additionally, we have taken steps to partner with influencers who align with our brand values, helping to expand our reach and connect with new audiences. Social media is no longer just about marketing; it's about creating a platform where our brand and customers can interact, share experiences, and build lasting relationships.

How do you work with other internal departments and does technology help? Marketing at Five Iron Golf is the central hub that connects all departments. We work closely with sales, operations, and product development teams to ensure that all efforts are aligned and driving the same objectives. Communication between departments is key to executing integrated campaigns that resonate with our consumers.

Technology plays an essential role in this cross-department collaboration. Tools like Asana help us track and manage projects efficiently, ensuring everyone is on the same page and meeting deadlines.

Which technology tools are most valuable to you and why? Several technology tools are vital to our marketing efforts at Five Iron Golf:

• Asana is a project management tool that helps us stay organized, track progress, and collaborate effectively on various marketing initiatives.
• CRM and email tools allow us to nurture customer relationships, deliver targeted messaging, and track engagement.
• Data collection and insight-building tools provide valuable consumer insights and enable us to make informed decisions based on real-time data, helping us fine-tune marketing strategies and maximize ROI.

How do you stay on top of changing technology? Staying ahead of the curve when it comes to technology is a priority at Five Iron Golf. We are always assessing new tools, trends, and technologies to help us evolve the business and communicate effectively with our consumers. The key is constant fine-tuning and adapting to changes as they happen, rather than reacting after the fact.

How do you manage costs and budgets for the marketing department? We manage marketing budgets by considering them as a percentage of overall revenue, which helps ensure that our spending is aligned with the company's financial performance. We also break down the budget by product line, consumer segment, and seasonality, allowing us to allocate resources efficiently and focus on high-impact initiatives at the right times.

Do you see vendors as business partners? Why/why not? Absolutely. We view our agency partners as true collaborators rather than just service providers. The agencies we work with must understand our brand's challenges and goals as well as the problems we're trying to solve. Our external relationships are built on mutual respect and shared objectives, and we strive to maintain partnerships that feel like an extension of our internal team.

How is your marketing/branding strategy developed, and how does it flow through the system? Our marketing and branding strategy begins with a deep dive into understanding our core audience through extensive research, persona development, and market analysis. This foundation ensures that every decision is rooted in data and designed to meet the needs of our diverse customers.

Once the strategy is defined, it flows seamlessly through our system. It starts with leadership alignment to ensure buy-in across all departments and extends to product design, messaging, and activation. We focus on equipping teams, both internal and franchise partners, with clear guidelines, creative assets, and actionable insights that reflect the brand's voice and values. By measuring performance and gathering input from franchisees and consumers alike, we can fine-tune our strategy, improve product offerings, and ensure relevancy in a dynamic market.

What advice would you offer to aspiring CMO executives?

• Know your audience inside and out. Deep consumer insights are the foundation of successful marketing. Invest in understanding your customers' needs, motivations, and behaviors.
• Stay adaptable. The marketing landscape is constantly changing. Embrace innovation, test new ideas, and don't be afraid to pivot when necessary.
• Focus on collaboration. Great marketing is a team effort. Build strong relationships with cross-functional teams and external partners to ensure alignment and success.
• Balance data with creativity. Leverage data to inform decisions but don't lose sight of the power of storytelling and brand building to create emotional connections.
• Never stop learning. The best CMOs are always curious, seeking out new trends, tools, and perspectives to stay ahead in an ever-evolving field.